Extreme Snowy Mountain Cowgirl Club

 

This is the third and final installment, sharing my experiences and thoughts from the Walk/Trot/Canter/Trail Ride class I participated in last weekend, on Saturday.

 

As I spoke about in my last post, Colleen took a larger group of us out for a relatively easy ride over the flats and gentle rolling hills on the northwestern side of the property. We rode for about an hour over there and then when we came back, she offered an additional, optional ride on the more ‘difficult’ rugged southern and eastern sides of the property. Four of the riders decided they had ridden long enough, so we went back to the arena and we rode around in there for a few minutes and then rode back to the stables so they could get their horses un-tacked and put away.

I was very surprised that Rosie’s rider, L, decided not to join us for the more challenging trail ride. I rode her on those same trails just last month. Rosie’s so easy to ride and would have been the perfect way to help rebuild her confidence. L owns an Arabian mare and hasn’t been able to ride her for many months due to working so much. And when she has tried, her mare has acted up and been difficult and scary to ride. She said several times to me that she enjoyed riding Rosie, but that Rosie also scared her a little. And when I’d look back at her during the trail ride, she’d have Rosie’s reins pulled up tight while saying ‘whoa!’. Rosie does mosie along really slow at the walk, but she sometimes likes to trot and catch up when she gets too far behind, but she’s fun and she moves so smoothly. And there is the issue of Rosie not liking any other horses, which some folks might get concerned about when a horse pins their ears, looks back and gives the stink-eye, while growling at another horse. Yep. That’s Rosie. hehe!

I didn’t mind it as long as I could just ride at the back of the line of riders. I actually prefer to ride on my own anyway. I always enjoyed my rides on Baby Doll where it was the two of us. I think it’s easier to focus on my horse and not get distracted by conversations with other people and their horses (especially if their horses are acting up). I like to get into a sort of riding zone (zen?), too. I get really quiet and some folks might think something’s wrong, but I’m really just focusing and enjoying myself.

(That’s a photo I took from Rosie’s back, below, from one of our recent trail rides)

 

Anyway, when L decided not to ride the more challenging trails, Colleen asked me if I wanted to trade Atta Bay and ride Rosie instead.

I thought about it for a brief minute and then told Colleen that I’d rather ride Atta Bay.

I think she may have been a little surprised, but I think I surprised myself even more. I could have ridden Rosie and been able to just relax on the second half of the trail ride. I could have just pulled out my camera and shot some video and taken some photos from her broad back, while she motored on through the snow and mud.

But I didn’t feel that Atta Bay was too much horse for me. Heck, Baby Doll was a bigger handful and more of a challenge than Atta Bay had been by far.

Yes, I could have just simply taken the easy way out and rode sweet Rosie, but I wanted to prove to myself that I could ride Atta Bay, especially on the more technically challenging trails. And obviously, Colleen had faith that I could handle the spirited Atta Bay, so I wasn’t going to let her down either.

(This photo cracks me up. At the time, Colleen was trying to get everyone lined up for a photo, and Atta Bay decided that standing still for a photo was just no fun. So we danced and circled, and she tossed her head around for a couple of minutes until I got fed up with her impatience and I growled at her, “CUT IT OUT!….STAND!” Colleen laughed and said, “There ya go! You know how to talk to my horses!”

I used to growl at Baby Doll all the time, but she would argue right back. But I guess Atta Bay took me seriously because afterwards she behaved and stood still until we were done with photos. haha!)

 

Well, when we were done with photos, our little riding group rode up and down ridges and through and around groves of trees, slogging through the snow and mud.

We had a great time and everyone got excited when I added the word ‘Extreme’ to our unofficial riding club’s name of: The Snowy Mountain Cowgirl Club. We whooped and hollered and yipped and yeehawed!

Atta Bay spooked a little bit at all the noise and commotion, but it was no big deal, nothing like Baby Doll’s bolting and teleportation spookings. And the only mishap that happened during the ride was when Colleen’s horse, one of the rescues from the ranch, got a little too close to a cholla cactus, leaving behind some sharp thorns in Colleen’s knee. ouch!

I was really impressed with one of the other riders, C. She adopted a sweet gelding from Walkin N Circles Horse Rescue, named Caesar. Even though he struggles with constant medical issues due to having cancerous growths on his ear, she and her husband fell in love with him. She took him out on our Oak Flats ride last month. She was one of the riders who fell, when Caesar slipped. C knows how much he loves to canter on trail rides and she lets him have fun, while she does too. He’s the horse I took one of my favorite photos of, back in October during the ACTHA Halloween Trail Ride. C and Caesar were volunteering as Trail Safety Crew members during that ride. I just happened to look down and see them standing there inside the arena and grabbed my camera. I love this photo!

 

You can also see him in our group photo, too. He’s the horse at the far right, with the shaved areas on his neck. That’s me on Atta Bay on the far left.

 

Saturday’s class was really beneficial for me. And the 2 1/2 hour trail ride on a new and more challenging horse makes me realize that I CAN do this. I don’t have to give up on my dreams. When I’m riding horses, it just feels right. I feel like I’m where I belong.

And after a tiring trail ride with a horse that tested my mettle, I felt an incredible sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, and as I drove the long, twisting, hilly road home……………the smile never left my face.

 

Thanks for following along during this 3-part series and sharing my personal journey. Many of you have been with me from the very beginning, when I bought my mare Baby Doll, and during all of my challenges with her. And you were around when I fell off my horse and had to endure surgery, pain, frustration and even a second injury caused by my mare. And you’ve followed along even when I couldn’t ride for a year during my rehabilitation and healing.

You all were there for me, with your words of encouragement and kudos when I finally got back up on my mare for the first time, too. And then you were there providing words of understanding and support after I finally made the tough decision to find a new home for Baby Doll. You’ve all been here with me cheering me on in my journey back to horse riding again, too. I can’t even begin to express how much y’all mean to me. I know that I have determination and take my goals seriously, but I don’t think I could have come this far without all of my blogger friends’ support, encouragement and camaraderie.

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!